I recently read a question on LinkedIN that got me to thinking:

Why is it that over 85% of companies do not have a plan for managing documents and information?

Setting a lack of source for that statistic aside I think the question is a great basis for a meaningful conversation.  As I reviewed the answers I became more and more intrigued.  And what really got my attention was a counter-question posed that asked, “Given that only 15% of companies have a well defined information management plan, what factors influenced these companies to establish their information management plan?"

What are the factors that influence the management of information?

A significant portion of work that we do at Collaboration Consulting Inc. includes understanding what people do.  In fact, 'what do you do?' is one of the first questions asked when determining how to build a process portal or develop an information architecture.  What you do is also a fundamental question, from our point of view, that drives the core of a collaboration strategy.

But how do you make sense of what people do?  Over the past 15 years I've been involved in many process mapping efforts and I realized the other day that there are a set of questions I'll always ask about what people do, regardless of industry, vertical, or scope of the project, before I start drawing any pictures.  I thought I'd share a high level overview of those questions for review.

I recently read a question on LinkedIN that got me to thinking:

Why is it that over 85% of companies do not have a plan for managing documents and information?

Setting a lack of source for that statistic aside I think the question is a great basis for a meaningful conversation.  As I reviewed the answers I became more and more intrigued.  And what really got my attention was a counter-question posed that asked, “Given that only 15% of companies have a well defined information management plan, what factors influenced these companies to establish their information management plan?"

What are the factors that influence the management of information?

A significant portion of work that we do at Collaboration Consulting Inc. includes understanding what people do.  In fact, 'what do you do?' is one of the first questions asked when determining how to build a process portal or develop an information architecture.  What you do is also a fundamental question, from our point of view, that drives the core of a collaboration strategy.

But how do you make sense of what people do?  Over the past 15 years I've been involved in many process mapping efforts and I realized the other day that there are a set of questions I'll always ask about what people do, regardless of industry, vertical, or scope of the project, before I start drawing any pictures.  I thought I'd share a high level overview of those questions for review.